Chile soccer team fined for putting ‘map of Palestine’ on uniform

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Chile’s top soccer league fined the Palestine Football Club for wearing uniforms showing the entire map of Israel as Palestine.

On Jan. 20, the National Association of Professional Football of Chile, or ANFP, penalized the soccer team some $1,300 for having the map on the back of the jerseys in place of the numeral 1. The ANFP also ruled that the team, which wore the jerseys in three games this month, must redesign the uniforms to include numerals for player numbers.

The decision followed a request by Patrick Kiblisky Fried, the Jewish president of Chile’s Deportivo Nublense SDAP club, which plays in the same league.

Fernando Aguad, president of the Palestine team, said following the decision, “We accept the resolution and we will change our uniform.”

The Palestinian community in Chile is believed to be the largest outside of the Middle East. At least 300,000 Chileans are of Palestinian descent, according to reports. — jta